Transcript:
On the third floor of a building in Astoria Queens, is the Ecuadorian American Cultural center
[Ambi walking into the center, music playing far away as I approach]
This is where Ayazamana practices.
[More dancing]
Amy Vele is a 29-yr old who drives down 1hr and half from Westchester every weekend for practice
Amy: “I really, really enjoy dancing a lot, so I'm happy to come every weekend. It's a little bit of a drive, but it's worth it to me.”
Amy used to dance when she was a kid, but felt the need to come back to it now as an adult
Amy: “Ever since the election, I've just been thinking about, like, what does it mean to like, preserve your identity, right? And I think the dance, the music being involved um wearing even the traditional clothing, I think that that's really important now.”
[Ambi of DANCING SCENE]
Amy joins 13 dancers competing for a spot on the team
[ambi narration “The dance consists of 4 couples rotating in different formations…]
Practice is tough, it is a full blown cardio session. There is jumping, running and galloping for 2 hours straight. The instructors are rigid - there is no room for error
[ambi of practice - stomping steps/jumping - narrating “you can hear the thumping of the footsteps”]
Dave Moran tried out in the Spring of 2021 and was rejected
Dave: “So when I got the message that I did not make the open call the first time, it was a bit more of a like, hold on. I do want to be a part of this.
Dave trained for a year until the next recruitment season
Dave: let me, like, double down enough, like, no, let me actually make an effort for this”
Dave was accepted and has been on the team now for two years joining some who have been on the team for 16 years.
Like Amy, Dave wanted to lean into his culture and heritage.
Dave’s family is from Guayaquil Ecuador, but he grew up in suburban Connecticut. There was never an emphasis on his Ecuadorian culture so he felt a disconnect with his roots.
Dave: “And it was always like, focus on your studies, focus on your sports. So I used to be like, you know, like the All American kid got my varsity jacket and everything, um and it wasn’t until I got here that I realized how much of a piece I was missing.”
Before he got to Ayazamana,Dave described himself as a “No sabo” a “No sabo” is a term used to refer to Latinos who are not fluent in Spanish. Dave has grown a lot more comfortable in his Spanish and has even learned Ecuadorian slang since joining the team
Like Dave, Amy grew up in a community where there weren’t many people of color
Amy: “I think that that really had a negative effect on me when I was much younger, because I just didn't see other people who look like me, neither the teachers, neither the students. And I think unfortunately, just in society in general, like we struggle with this idea that we have to forget who we are, or we have to forget our roots in order to feel accepted amongst our peers.”
Amy and Dave have expressed concerns for the future as the new presidency enters with an anti-immigrant rhetoric
Dave: “The next four years will obviously be interesting as far as discovering your cultural identity. So we want to try to try to find the best way of being able to still have people who may be coming through high school and experiencing this idea of maybe not feeling comfortable expressing themselves, to make this a safe space for them.”
Amy: “I think it's really crucial, I think now more than ever, that we feel a lot of pride, a sense of pride for where we come from, regardless of whether it's Ecuador or somewhere else.”
Amy along with the 13 finalists performed at the Ayazamana winter showcase recital at the Langston Hughes Queens Public Library on December 7th. Amy says shes honored to have this experience with these people. they're not afraid, or they don't feel any type of shame for wanting to express themselves and their roots in different ways.”
And Amy looks forward to keeping Ecuadorian culture in the public eye as she officially made the Ayazamana team.
For AudioFiles this is Evelin Fajardo-Alvarez
